Sizing jacketed bullets?

gunguy30_06

There are many sources of cheap surplus jacketed bullets. Some of them have not been sized. This there a die our there that can size a jacketed bullet? How to the distributers do this?

Thanks!

jonk

If you want to make sure they are of uniform size, running them through a Lee lube and size die (without the lube) would do it. But I've shot a lot of surplus bullets and never sized them- US M2 surplus is pretty consistent, for instance.

haroldchrismeyer

Please post some sources for cheap surplus bullets. All my good sources have dried up.

XXCross

Please note that jacketed bullets are NOT sized by squeezing them
down, but rather by bumping them up. If you try to squeeze them down, the jacket springs back a bit and you loose the core/jacket bond. (makes for real sloppy targets)

jonk

So I've been told. I think it's a myth. I have no doubt it CAN happen, just that I haven't seen it happen and I don't think it is as easy to get happen as sometimes claimed. I've squeezed jacketed .338 bullets down to .329 for my 8X56R M95 with no problems- you just have to do it in steps. I have also to see 'spring back' after measuring a lot of sized down bullets.

If they're surplus and BULLETS they MUST have been sized- swaging bonds the core to the jacket to start with. Or?

greyghostt

quote:Originally posted by jonk
So I've been told. I think it's a myth. I have no doubt it CAN happen, just that I haven't seen it happen and I don't think it is as easy to get happen as sometimes claimed. I've squeezed jacketed .338 bullets down to .329 for my 8X56R M95 with no problems- you just have to do it in steps. I have also to see 'spring back' after measuring a lot of sized down bullets.

If they're surplus and BULLETS they MUST have been sized- swaging bonds the core to the jacket to start with. Or?


swaging the core doesn't bond the core to the jacket! bonded cores are
chemicaly bonded including heat.

jonk

Ok. I'm pretty sure I have seen home swaging setups that include a really beefy press, jacket material, and lead wire along with swage dies. One inserts the core into the jacket and runs into the swage die. Now I admit, I might be ignorant (in fact I am on bullet manufacture) but where does heat and chemicals come into this? The jackets aren't epoxied to the core...

XXCross

Jackets for bullets always start life smaller than the finished product. The lead core is inserted and the combination is swaged in a die that is the final diameter of the bullet. Since the jacket has a "memory", it tries to return to it's former dimention. That's where the "bond" comes between the jacket and core. (mechanical bond)

fire for effect

I have a ring die I purchased from Corbin MFG, for resizing .357 bullets to .355. Corbin states that you can resize a bullet .002 to .003 with out a problem. any more and the copper springs back too much and the core becomes loose.